In game romantic relationship

[Piratecat]

We've had romantic entanglements a couple of times in long-running games (and all the time in one-shots where it's written into a character. That's a different story, really.)

My rule of thumb as a DM is to always let such a thing be player-initiated, and even so be sure to talk to the player about it out of game to make sure they're cool with everything. It's fun when it works, but I wouldn't want to hijack a cool game for something that turned out to be awkward.

 

[Piratecat]

I can't give you any more XP, so I'll just say YES THIS ROCKS THE END.

Gotcha covered.

 

[Hella_Tellah]

I can't give you any more XP, so I'll just say YES THIS ROCKS THE END.

Gotcha covered.

Aw shucks.
It's been a great campaign so far, and it's ending in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of posting a "lessons learned from a good campaign" post about the game once it's over, if anyone would be interested in reading about it.

 

[roguerouge]

Here's the thing. In real life, how many people do you know that have really good relationships? It's probably not most of your friends, and it may not even be half of them. Especially with the Mountain Dew swilling demographic that is gaming.

OT: The majority of the gamers that I know, actually, are in successful relationships. /OT

 

[avin]

My experiences:

- A fighter / mage of mine has a romance with a NPC, it was a good plot. One of the players dislike it;
- Played with my wife twice. Her fighter had a crush on my ranger. My ranger ignored her. On a Mage game there was tension between her Verbenna and my Virtual Adept, we didn't went into romance because, you know, Mulder and Scully was better before they kissed;

I'd say it can work... more on Vampire or Mage than on D&D. Mature experiencied roleplayers can do it just fine... Split-Coke dudes have some trouble at it... I use to avoid romance myself, as I described... but have nothing against it if fits the game.

That said: if you don't feel like romancing in game make your char abort it, in game. If it's been pushed from outside forces (let's say the player has a crush on you) abort it talking to the DM.

 

[Starbuck_II]

My experiences:

- Played with my wife twice. Her fighter had a crush on my ranger. My ranger ignored her. On a Mage game there was tension between her Verbenna and my Virtual Adept, we didn't went into romance because, you know, Mulder and Scully was better before they kissed;

I don't know, I thought there are certain characters that are better once they get the girl:
Mulder and Scully are one of them.
Guardian Bob and Dot Matrix are the other couple (from Reboot)

 

[Piratecat]

Aw shucks.
It's been a great campaign so far, and it's ending in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of posting a "lessons learned from a good campaign" post about the game once it's over, if anyone would be interested in reading about it.

Yes please! I'd love to see that.

 

[Agamon]

My suggestion is to keep it subtle and in the background, like the working relationships of partners in TV shows like Bones and X-Files. The PCs care about each other's well being, but it's not out-and-out "I love you!"

I played in a pbp game where my PC was dating another PC, but it was a teen supers game, so it was par for the course. And it really added to the game, because once they broke up, things got really fun (sarcastic insults are fun, aren't they? )

 

[Stormborn]

I played in a pbp game where my PC was dating another PC, but it was a teen supers game, so it was par for the course. And it really added to the game, because once they broke up, things got really fun (sarcastic insults are fun, aren't they? )

They are in a teen age supers game. Actually I think that speaks to the point well. Even when playing "straight DnD" there are a lot of assumptions about genre, mood, and style. In most of our games there is an assumption of a bit of swashbuckling/pulp adventure. In both romance is appropriate. Given the kind of DnD game someone plays romance may not be.

 

[Agamon]

They are in a teen age supers game. Actually I think that speaks to the point well. Even when playing "straight DnD" there are a lot of assumptions about genre, mood, and style. In most of our games there is an assumption of a bit of swashbuckling/pulp adventure. In both romance is appropriate. Given the kind of DnD game someone plays romance may not be.

PbP vs tabletop makes a big difference, too. More of a disconnect between player and PC in the former, plus a tendancy towards more roleplay (at least in my experience).

I had no problem with the relationship in that game, but playing a female PC dating another player's male PC in a tabletop game would be difficult for me, at best, I think (at least without it devolving into a crass joke, anyway ).